The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Dendranthema grandiflora and referred to by the cultivar name Empire Blizzard.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in New Hartford, N.Y. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.
The new cultivar originated form a cross made by the Inventor in October, 1994, of the Dendranthema grandiflora cultivar Empire Aspen U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,885 as the male, or pollen, parent with an unidentified proprietary seedling selection as the female, or seed, parent.
The cultivar Empire Blizzard was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in New Hartford in September, 1995. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive ray floret color and excellent garden performance. Plant of new Chrysanthemum have larger inflorescences, fewer ray florets and flower more uniformly than plants of the parent cultivar, Empire Aspen.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in New Hartford has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.